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Very simple fix: instead of lottery, award the visas to the highest paid employees in each field. That salary cannot drop more than 10%. (I'd add, the employee
by xixixao 12y ago
Very simple fix: instead of lottery, award the visas to the highest paid employees in each field. That salary cannot drop more than 10%. (I'd add, the employee can switch companies, instead of being tied to one, given they are again paid the same amount in salary).
The "offending" companies are not the likes of Facebook or Google, or small start ups (other HN discussions mentioned the concrete companies that get the most visas). There is an apparent shortage of highly-skilled highly-qualified workers. Maybe not "code-monkeys" (whatever that means).
edit: One more thing, the above argument is supported by the sources you link, but it is not clearly indicated in them whether they considered that the majority of H1-Bs are (I presume) people starting their careers, so comparing their wages with the average of all Americans regardless of tenure is misleading.
- dalke 12y agoSuch a lottery would give priority to areas of the country where the cost of living is highest. While I believe that the "apparent shortage" is artificial propaganda, and used as a strategy to keep wages low, if it does exist, what evidence is there that the shortage isn't most severe in Alabama, South Carolina, and New Mexico, which are some of the poorest states in the US? If it were the case that those states were desperate for developers, then your lottery would make things more difficult.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoThe Canadian Province of Nova Scotia "bet the farm" when it built a really well-equipped Computer Science facility at Dalhousie University in Halifax. It's really easy to get financial aid in Canada as well. Of course the province was hoping to build a robust software industry. What actually happened is that most of Dalhousie's CS grads get jobs in the US. I lived in Nova Scotia for several years, I was only able to get one job there. All of my other jobs were remote work for clients in the US.
- dalke 12y agoYou wrote: "I speculate that the reasons for the perceived - and ONLY perceived - shortage is that it's far more difficult for employers and potential employees to find each other.", and follow it up with an example of how most of Dalhousie's CS grads are able to find work in another country? How is it meaningful to say that it's hard for the students and their potential US employers to find each other when apparently it's quite easy?
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoYou're using anecdotal evidence to argue against the general case. Consider the book "Laughter is the Best Medicine". Some guy's cancer went into remission when he watched a whole bunch of really funny movies. Given that, would you suggest that we should do away with chemotherapy, radiation and oncology surgeons?
- dalke 12y agoYou started off by saying it was difficult, then used an example of where it was easy. Given the existence of Craigslist, Monster, Stack Overflow Careers, etc. over and beyond what was available 30 years ago, it should be easier now to find employees rather than harder. You need to demonstrate that it's actually harder. Under your analogy, you haven't shown that the people actually have cancer in the first place.
- MichaelCrawford 12y agoCraigslist, Monster, Careers 2.0 are the problem, not the solution. At one time I only had two ways to look for a job: under "Computer Programming" in the Yellow Pages, and in the Sunday San Jose Mercury News. Now there are vast numbers of job boards, newspapers are going bankrupt because craigslist job posts are completely free of charge in most cities, and no one even knows what the yellow pages are.
- dalke 12y ago"You're using anecdotal evidence to argue against the general case."